I let the pie dough chill in my fridge overnight. Then Thanksgiving morning, I took the first out. It was as hard as a rock, so I let it sit for a little bit, and then rolled. It rolled nicely, and had a fabulous texture. I put it into the pie pan, making sure not to stretch the dough. I crimped the edges, so they looked just as pretty as Martha's. I put my pie filling in, and started to bake. I peaked in, 5 min. later, and I was horrified to see that the edges had fallen. There was no sign that I had crimped them. I was so upset, b/c like I said, it looked gorgeous!

So, I wanted to know what I did wrong. While the first one baked, I started to search the net for tips on how to prevent this. One tip that I found said to freeze the crust, before baking. So, the second pie, I did this. After I put it in the pan, and crimped the sides, I put it in the freezer for about 20 min. It was nice and hard when I took it out. I only took it out when my filling was ready, and I was ready to put it in the oven. So I acted quickly. Put it in the oven, and checked on it a few min. later. This one kept it's shape better than the first one, but it did fall in a couple places.

Are there any more suggestions? Should I have let the crust freeze a little longer, before baking? Any other tips would be helpful. I would much rather make a pie crust from scratch, than to use one that's already made.

I think the flour to butter ratio is off, I use a 3 to 1 ratio of flour to butter (and I use half shortening, half butter). Also, did you preheat the oven? I'm thinking if the oven wasn't hot enough it might melt the crust...

Hmmm, so you'd suggest a different recipe? And I did preheat the oven to 425, for the first 15 min. or so. That's what the pumpkin pie recipe called for. I actually didn't pay attention to the heating directions for the dough recipe.

I have never made an all-butter pie crust that kept it's pretty crimping. I've tried all kinds of tricks including setting the finished pie in the fridge for an hour before baking. I've decided it's just the nature of the beast. If you want the flavor of an all-butter crust, you sacrifice the edges; if the edges are important, make a crust with shortening or lard.

And I don't think it's a question of the oven not being hot enough. If anything, perhaps the opposite. I put my beautifully crimped, chilled, apple pie in a preheated 400F oven directly on a pizza stone. Edge gone in twenty minutes.

I have no idea what "Blind Baking," is. I keep seeing that term. Is it when you cook the crust w/o the filling, and then add the filling? I didn't think you had to do that with a pumpkin pie. Should I have done that?